Amsterdam Russ

Did you ever get the records back?

Can you post up a scan of the acetate?

Sam Cooke firmly believes that Saturday night is the best time for pulling the birds...

Listening to the opening lines of this great track from The Olympics, it would be reasonable to assume that these guys prefer Fridays to Saturdays.

Hope it proves useful to you.

Are you on Facebook? If so, I run a group called the European Soul Club Network, which lists soulful happenings in mainland Europe. You might find some events there that coincide with your dates. https://www.facebook.com/groups/europeansoulclubnetwork/

Now there's the thing. Why stop with the end of the Wigan Casino? Northern Soul didn't suddenly disappear when the Casino shut its doors for the last time. In fact, the early 80s marks a new chapter for the scene as a whole as a new generation - many hearing the music through the 2nd generation Mod scene of that time (that's certainly from where my first introductions to Northern Soul came) – developed a passion for the music. I went to my first allnighter in 1983 (Hinckley) and in the ensuing years travelled from Kent (and later London) to go to packed events all over the country (Bradford, Peterborough, Chesterfield, Blackburn, Hinckley, Sheffield, Leighton Buzzard, for example). The early 80s also saw a powerful shift in the music played at many Northern Soul venues. In fact, what were termed "60s newies" changed the direction of the scene tremendously. My point is that the closing of the Wigan Casino isn't "the day the music died" for Northern Soul. Far from it. Look at Northern Soul today and you'll see that it's become a global movement. I, for example - and as my signature shows - am co-promoter of a small Northern Soul night in Amsterdam. I also run a Facebook group called the European Soul Club Network, the purpose of which is to provide soulies with a calendar of events taking place in continental Europe - and there are loads of them. Northern Soul is worldwide. To sum up, finishing a history at 1981 ignores 35 thriving years of the scene - a period of time considerably longer than from the late 60s to when Wigan closed its doors.

If it's the same version as appeared on the "Essentials" LP, then it did come out on vinyl. I bought it on vinyl when it was released and had it until about a year ago.

Previously unreleased on vinyl? Didn't this feature on "Essential: The very best of Terry Callier" (1998), or is this a different version of the track? That LP came out on vinyl.

The questions I've picked out below are written from the viewpoint that Northern Soul is a thing of the past. Or possibly are given with the view that anything "Northern Soul" today is nothing but a nostalgic reflection of that past. 32. How did Northern Soul shape your identity? 33. What is the legacy of northern soul? 34. How important was it in terms of your social and cultural life? 35. What are your thoughts on how the scene has been remembered by film makers, writers, and participants? I do feel that some clarification about these questions would be useful. Likewise, an outline of the premise of the proposed 'history' would enable Soul Sourcers to ascertain the value of the project, and specifically whether they will be contributing towards something that accurately reflects the development, history, and current status of a scene that has survived unbroken for decades. If Northern Soul is to be written about as a cultural movement of the past, that would be fatally flawed from the outset. Likewise, if the scene today is presented as a nostalgia-based one, that too would be fatally flawed (even though some aspects of the scene in more recent years have become nostalgia-driven). Prof. Gildart..?

A great selection of tunes from you both that certainly made the night go with a bang! Thank you!!

Both country and soul share the same roots - they're forms of folk music. While the term "folk music" has taken on a different meaning over the years to something involving woollen jumpers and homely rocking chairs, it originally meant exactly what it says - the music of the people. Both are connected intrinsically by their common theme - that in the space of three minutes, or there abouts, each song exists to tell a story. Blues, of course, just like other folk music styles such as prison songs and gospel, is all about story telling, usually in a vernacular style - and from that comes soul. It's interesting to note that in the 2nd half of the 60s, Atlantic made a conscious move towards country soul/blues. If I remember correctly Jerry Wexler was interviewed multiple times in the likes of Billboard magazine on exactly this topic - and it was his deliberate choice to move Atlantic from New York and the soulful South to Nashville and thus helped create a type of music for white people thinking he was doing for the same deep-pocketed Caucasians that Berry Gordy did when he blanched Detroit's "soul music". For me it's just as important to understand "country" music as it is "soul" if you wish to get an insight into how the latter developed. They're both intrinsically linked to the culture of the USA, and the home of the music we love. And the ultimate conclusion for me is that hating one because it's "white" in favour of the other because it's "black" just doesn't make sense. It's all about the folk.

Can only echo the sentiments of others and express sadness and hope for a full recovery. A terrible thing to have happened!

Thanks, Steve. When it's foggy here, it's really foggy. The pics don't do it justice in may respects. Seeing the early morning mist in the Amsterdam woods when cycling back in the wee hours from a soul night is something to behold! When it's really foggy though, you can't see a blooming' thing - and for sure it's always incredibly atmospheric.

On the other side of the coin, when you're cycling around Amsterdam on your bike tourists are a major hazard. They haven't a clue. Still, tinging your bell furiously at them is great self-affirmation that you're a local. Indeed, a lovely place in spring, summer and autumn - except for the tourist hordes.

Here you go - wintery vista and ice skating combined in a classic Dutch scene. This is in the Amsterdam woods. We were standing on the ice when this pic was taken. Have to say the loud creaking noises coming from the ice give pause for thought. Never actually ice skated, and based on my childhood experiences with roller skates, I doubt if I ever will.

Got to agree - but at the same time there is some considerable charm in a wintery Netherlands. Certainly that's what the ice-skating-loving Dutch would have you believe. Brrr...

Two summers ago I started a photo project. The idea being to take photos across a year of the changing weather, light and seasons in central Aalsmeer where we live. I finished that last summer, put the project to one side and eventually forgot about it until recently. So, I spent a few hours today compiling the images and uploading it to YouTube. Have to say I'm somewhat disappointed with the amount of compression YouTube has done during the upload process. The actual images - although taken on an iPad - are far superior. Hope that doesn't spoil anyone's enjoyment and that you get the gist of what I was wanted to achieve. One important lesson I learned in doing this - next time take the pics landscape instead of portrait!

Friday afternoon trip to the goat farm in the Amsterdam woods. A bit rainy, but nothing to stop us from enjoying ourselves. Have to say though that for mid-August there was a real autumnal feel in the air.

Rather sadly, the swifts in our locale departed about two weeks ago. Don't think I've ever known them to leave so early. We had a small number of swallows take their place in the skies, but in many respects that just showed they were flying further to find food as normally their domain is the nearby lake. Wish they'd stayed because for the last week we've been absolutely plagued with mosquitos, a problem that's affecting not just us locally, but also the Netherlands as a whole thanks to what's been a rather rainy summer.

Larry, it's a real privilege to be able to communicate with you! Wow, the marvel that is the Internet! You mention an "initial" pressing of 10,000 copies, and that most of those sold. That must have been incredible at the time. What of the second run - how many, and... did you get to a third?

Standing just now at Hoofddorp station waiting for a train into Amsterdam and heard the unmistakable cry of a peregrine. Looked up and spied two of them. Most unexpected!

Since starting this thread I've been surprised at just how commonplace the word "banger" has become in describing a certain types of tunes. It's pretty much mainstream now, to my mind, so is sure to become ubiquitous. Seems about the only place it's not being used with any great frequency is Soul Source. Perhaps that has something to do with membership demographics.

Not so much the name, but the tag line – "Our bombs are direct hits" – is pretty bizarre and in rather poor taste considering the lasting damage the attack on Pearl Harbour did to the national psyche of the US.

£200 about right these days.